View full sizeGBT Realty of Brentwood, Tenn., which developed the Shoppes of Madison on U.S. 72 West, plans to build a high-end, mixed-use shopping center beside John Hunt Park. (Courtesy GBT Realty)

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - The company buying a 25-acre retail tract on the edge of John Hunt Park will be required to open at least 100,000 square feet of new shopping and dining by fall 2015.

Under a proposed development contract between the City of Huntsville and GBT Realty of Brentwood, Tenn., the city promises to remove Fire Station No. 6 and other structures on the land within 90 days.

Taxpayers would also pick up the tab for environmental tests, running utilities to the site, building a storm water detention pond and installing a pedestrian walkway linking GBT's shopping center to the park.

GBT, which developed the Target-anchored Shoppes of Madison on U.S. 72 West, bid $8,216,897 for the prime city land near the Memorial Parkway-Airport Road interchange. It is proposing to build a high-end, 240,000-square-foot mixed-use retail center there.

The Huntsville City Council is set to vote on the proposed development agreement with GBT at its meeting tonight.

According to its winning proposal, GBT in the past year has overseen $154 million in new retail development in 19 different states. The company's national tenants include Target, Academy Sports, Kohl's, Publix, Michael's, TJ Maxx, Ross, Bed, Bath & Beyond, PetSmart, Starbucks, AT&T and Dollar General.

The development agreement says the city and GBT would close on the sale of the property within 30 days of City Council approval; GBT would pay all closing costs.

The company would have two years from the date of closing to complete 100,000 square feet of new shopping and dining. It would pay a $10,000-a-month penalty for failing to meet the deadline.

Twenty-five percent of sales taxes generated by the new shopping center will be earmarked for John Hunt Park upgrades and maintenance.

Huntsville Director of Urban Development Shane Davis said last month that part of the land sale proceeds will be used to rip out the asphalt runways left over from the park's early days as an airport. A $100 million park master plan calls for a 4,000-seat indoor sports arena, festival area for outdoor concerts, multi-purpose activities center, tournament-caliber soccer fields, tree-lined jogging paths, more tennis courts, children's splash fountain, picnic areas and an expanded Benton H. Wilcoxon Ice Complex.

Battle has said he wants to turn 372-acre John Hunt Park into the Rocket City's version of New York's Central Park.